The Sylvan Dragon’s Herald (book 5)
- Violence: A character has a crossbow pointed at them; this is on the first page, but it doesn’t get more violent than that
- Two brief mentions of gender dysphoria, specifically one moment of self-consciousness about the narrator’s voice and one about her clothes
- A couple of mentions of an unsupportive family of origin, not related to gender
- Extended depictions of social anxiety / agoraphobia, including panic attacks
- Extended depiction of depression
- Some scary demon imagery (Hazel and Morel’s demons as seen in book 1, the agoraphobia / social anxiety panopticon serpent demon and the depression slime monster)
- Mild f/f romance references (nothing more than hand-holding on page)
- Brief mentions of mind control magic (in reference to Book 1)
Starting Over in Another World with My Level 99 Self-Doubt (book 6)
- It’s a reincarnation isekai story, meaning that the narrator died and was pulled into a fantasy world in the process. It’s far in the past, but it does come up.
- A moderate amount of swearing, mostly hell/damn level, and a handful of f-bombs.
- Several references to poverty and struggling under poverty / late stage American capitalism in the narrator’s backstory. The tone is mixed: not misery porn, not sunshine and rainbows either.
- ○ Specifically: references to freeganism/dumpster diving, buying secondhand goods, living in shared housing, and struggling to access health care, as well as anger at the system generally.
- Two references to drug use (not on-page, one in a metaphor and one reference to backstory)
- Lots of references to alcohol use; the narrator works as a bartender.
- Violence: one reference to a fistfight; one reference to sexual violence in backstory (specifically, “I’d never seen anyone in the [i.e. this] bar grab anybody inappropriately”)
- Sexual content: two instances of flirting that get shut down and dropped; one reference in backstory to watching bar owners pick up women at their bars
- The agender lead has a moment of dysphoria related to clothes/presentation.
Hang on, you skipped book 7!
It fits better with the next few books, so its order is swapped in the omnibus editions. This also allows Berry’s and Henry’s stories to be back to back, as they are also more closely related. Sorry if this bugs anyone, but I think it works better this way overall.
The Ballad of the Bardbarian (book 8)
Multiple instances:
- Depiction of a controlling friendship, with emotional abuse and verbal altercations
- Creepy demon scenes (shadow tentacles)
- Antagonist POV chapters
- Some swearing
- References to m/m attraction, overall mild (blushing and butterflies, long looks, a little hand-holding)
Brief but present:
- Threatening magic (first chapter)
- References to homophobic bullying (verbal; general threatening behavior), not quoted on-page
- References to amatonormativity / arophobia (discrediting / regarding as “lesser” anyone who doesn’t feel romantic love), which the character conflates with acephobia (discrediting / regarding as “lesser” anyone who doesn’t feel sexual attraction)
- References to religious trauma and familial abuse/control, including destruction of property and a homophobic conversion camp
- References to body dysmorphia and eating disorders
- References to past character death (in the context of a reincarnation story), without detail
- Depressive behavior and negative internal monologue in a couple of chapters
- References to grief over a past relationship